Season Two finally begins!

....

A whole year had gone by since Malibu had arrived in Ponyville. And the young Alicorn once a gargoyle couldn't be happier living in this nice little village. And becoming the Element of Love that time ago had been a big step in his life despite being a spawn of an evil gargoyle.

Malibu was hanging out with Applejack in the tree fields helping with the apple bucking. While bucking a tree he suddenly felt a drop on his head which happened to be rain.

"Huh?" Malibu asked himself, as more fell. But it wasn't normal rain. He licked it and it tasted like chocolate milk. What was going on? And the weather didn't call for rain. He spotted Rainbow Dash his special somepony flying above and chasing a pink cloud. Wait... pink?

"Hey! I didn't tell you to go anywhere!" Rainbow snapped, Applejack now noticing what was going on. "Rainbow Dash, what's goin' on with this rain? Ah mean, chocolate milk. Ah mean, chocolate milk rain?" She asked in total confusion. Malibu nodded. "This isn't normal rain," He stated.

Dash groaned but nodded too. "I know. There's crazy weather all over Equestria! Cloudsdale is getting soaked by a major cola storm right now! But don't worry, I'm not leaving until I get control of Ponyville!"

A popping noise sounded then and to Malibu's disbelief the corn began popping into popcorn, knocking him and AJ to the ground. He groaned, rubbing his nose and saw Pinkie jumping around in it. "Why would you wanna stop this?" She ate the popcorn and drank the chocolate rain.

Malibu frowned. "It's ruining the apple fields around here, that's why. This is not normal." AJ agreed, Rarity showed up with an umbrella on her back. He figured she would wear something like that. "Ahem. I heard about your troubles, Applejack, and I came to see if there's anything I can do without getting wet. Or dirty. Or out from under my umbrella."

It made the former gargoyle chuckle silently from her comments until suddenly the apples on the trees grew bigger as if by magic. Giant size. Critters jumped onto the apples and began to eat them. This wasn't good. "Fluttershy, do somethin'!" Applejack shouted in panic. Fluttershy approached her bunny Angel busy eating it. "Now, Angel, you really shouldn't..." Malibu gaped in shock when out of nowhere; Angel's legs grew very long, where he along with the other bunnies began to run like horses or deer.

"No! It's not possible! I-I must be seeing things!" Flutter yelped in disbelief. Twilight thankfully came. Malibu hoped she could help him fix it. "Don't worry, everyone. Me and Malibu recently learned a spell that could fix everything." Malibu swallowed at the idea of doing a spell this big, worried they were gonna mess up. The two concentrated hard, horns lighting up pink and red, sending a magic wave everywhere.

When they opened their eyes; nothing was fixed. It was all still chaotic. Malibu's heart sank that not even the spell worked. Twilight looked downcast. "My fail-safe spell... failed! What do we do?" Malibu himself didn't know how they could fix something this big. Spike shrugged. "Uh, give up?" It made the clone smack him on the head with his tail.

Rarity put the umbrella on Twilight Sparkle's back. "Spike, Twilight will come up with something!" The unicorn thought for a while. "Hmm, time for plan B." She turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, can you corral all those clouds in one corner of the sky?" Malibu watched his special somepony nod, flapping her wings and going to do so, gathering them all up in a bunch together.

"Applejack, I need you to bring those high strung storm clouds down to Earth," She instructed the earth pony. AJ grinned, lassoing the cotton candy clouds. Once the ropes wrapped around them the chocolate rain halted. Pinkie Pie had been drinking it when it stopped. "Hey! What happened?!" The party pony exclaimed in disappointment.

Twilight next whispered to Fluttershy of her next plan. She perked up. "Oh dear! I hope none of the animals see these delicious chocolate filled cotton candy clouds. I'd hate to have to share them." The animals eating the apples looked excited while Pinkie had run to eat the candy clouds. "Oh, you and me both, sister!" The animals rushed in, knocking her aside. "Hey!"

Applejack looked happy. "And when y'all are done with that, feel free to have some popcorn for dessert." Malibu however felt like that the cotton candy clouds were more dessert based than the popcorn. But he kept silent about that, happy they used teamwork to clear all this up. But how did it all happen anyway?

Twilight smiled at Spike and Malibu. "You see, Spike? We should never give up. There's nothing we can't overcome if we all work together!" Malibu nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Especially since we're the Elements." That was when Spike cringed up, holding his stomach, then let loose a burp, a magical letter appearing from his mouth.

Malibu wondered who it was from while Twilight read it. She gasped in fear. "Come on, everypony. Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot at once!"

"What does my mom want?" Malibu asked in worry. "Don't know, but it isn't good from the sounds of it." Twilight replied, all of them taking the Friendship Express train to Canterlot.

...

They ran into the throne room where Celestia had been pacing. She glanced over at the Mane 7 and Spike racing inside. "Princess Celestia, we came as fast as we could!" Twilight said. Malibu didn't waste time in giving his mom his usual hugs. Celestia nuzzled him for a bit before speaking. "Thank you, Twilight and my son. Thank you all."

Malibu spoke up. "Mom, what's happening with the weather and the animals? And why hadn't mine and Twilight's magic been working?" Celestia held up her hoof to calm his panicked speaking. "Follow me."

They walked with her down the stain glass hallway. "I've called you here for a matter of great importance. It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned. His name... is Discord."

The young alicorn glanced up nervously at one stain glass picture of the infamous chaos creature there. Fluttershy had squealed in fear, running away from the window. "Was it that statue I saw when first coming, mom?" Celestia nodded. "Yes. But it is no longer there. I will have to explain to your friends who Discord is."

She continued after Malibu nodded. "Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone." Malibu saw another stained glass memorial of the Sisters defeating said foe, and the seven Elements around them.

Rainbow Dash looked happy about that. "Alright, Princess!" She cheered. But Celestia looked disheartened. "I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever, but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken." She said in a concerned voice. Malibu raised his brow. "What? No longer connected?" She nodded, a hoof on his shoulder before going to a pair of doors at the end.

"This is Canterlot Tower, where the Elements are kept inside since all of you recovered them." Malibu gazed, wanting to see his element again. "I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos." Celestia declared, all 7 of them and Spike looking a bit nervous but determined.

Twilight's face was doubtful. "But why us? Why don't you—." She was interrupted by Pinkie Pie who zipped over to another stained glass window. "Hey, look! We're famous!" Malibu went to see and saw him on the window with his friends defeating Nightmare Moon. But he was in his gargoyle form in this picture however which somewhat stunned him.

"You seven showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe. Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord!" Celestia said in a brave voice.

Malibu felt tears in his eyes from his mom's words, feeling honored that his mom entrusted him and the others to stop this new baddie. But could they do it as easily as Nightmare Moon? Twilight looked determined now. "Princess Celestia, you can count on—."

"Hold on a second! Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!" Pinkie suddenly interrupted. Malibu shook his head sharply, nudging her. Twilight spoke again. "Don't listen to her, Princess. We'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again."

Celestia nodded, unlocking the vault with her horn. It lit up bright and opened; revealing a jewel encrusted case holding the elements. Malibu felt excited to see his pendant and use it again. Rarity looked in awe at the case. "Ooh! You can keep the Elements. I'll take that case!" She declared, making him laugh. Celestia held up the box. "Have no fear, ponies. I have total confidence that you'll be able to defeat Discord with these!"

But, when she opened the box; all the Elements were gone! Malibu's eyes rounded in horror as did his friends. His mom dropped the box in shock, all of them staring open mouthed. "The Elements! They're gone!" Twilight yelped in shock.

"Bu-but where are they?" Malibu asked in panic. His mom paced. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break! This doesn't make sense!"

As she said it, an evil male laugh echoed through the hall, making the hairs on the back of Malibu's neck stand up. He trembled from the sound. It was Discord. "Make sense? Oh, what fun is there making sense?"

Celestia glared, stomping her hoof. "Discord. Show yourself!" She snapped, Malibu going behind his mom, afraid to see him. "Did you miss me, Celestia?" He spotted an image of Discord in a window come to life, smirking. "I missed you. It's quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn't know that would you? Because I don't turn ponies into stone!" He hovered over to another Mane 7 image, knocking his fist on one of them.

Malibu trembled further at how evil he seemed to be, Celestia's face filled with anger. "Enough! What have you done to the Elements of Harmony?" Discord grinned devilishly again. "Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while." He snapped his eagle claw, an image of the 7 Elements disappearing from the window. The young alicorn's face fell at this. They were in trouble.

His mom stomped her hoof again. "You'll never get away with this, Discord!" The draconnequs scoffed. "Oh, I'd forgotten how grim you could be, Celestia. It's really quite boring."

Rainbow growled at the insult. Malibu's fear disappeared when hearing Discord insult his adopted mother. That took it too far. "Hey!" Rainbow yelled. "Nopony insults the princess!" She flew to the window. Malibu raised his hoof. "Dash, wait!" Too late as his marefriend smacked into it, the Discord image disappearing.

He came back, sneering. "You must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent." The rainbow pegasus nodded. "That's right! I'll always be loyal to the Princess!" Malibu smiled at her words. "We'll see about that..." Discord taunted.

Malibu growled too. "And you had no right to taunt my mom!" He said in rage. Discord appeared in a window before him, chuckling. "How lovely, the Element of Love, also the adopted son of my closest friend." The clone gargoyle nodded. "I'll always love her. You won't ever split us apart!" Discord gave a mocking laugh. "So bold, but lame."

Rarity huffed. "I can't believe we're wasting our time talking to a tacky window." Malibu had to agree on that. Discord showed next to her. "The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of Generosity, if I'm not mistaken!" Discord said, still having that stupid smirk. Applejack rolled her eyes. "So ya know who we are, big deal."

Discord made himself bigger in the window, folding his arms. "Oh, I know much more than that, Honest Applejack." Malibu trembled further. Did Discord know that he wasn't really a pony? He didn't say anything about it earlier. Twilight spoke next. "You seem to know our strengths, too."

In another window with the Mane 7 Discord looked the most excited when talking to Twilight. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle. And yours is the most powerful and elusive Element; Magic. Fluttershy's is kindness and Pinkie Pie's is a personal favorite of mine... Laughter." He began to snicker and Malibu could see why he chose Laughter as his favorite. Pinkie chortled quite a bit, pointing.

Twilight looked pissed at her. "Pinkie!" She kept laughing. "He's standing on your... head!" Malibu could see Discord doing a jig on top of Twilight's head image in the window, still laughing. Celestia seemed to have had enough rightfully so.

"Stop stalling, Discord! What have you done to the Elements of Harmony?!" The Draconequs groaned, upset his fun was cut short. "Oh, so boring Celestia. Really? Fine. I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way."

Malibu wondered what he meant when the foe began to speak in a riddle. He hated riddles. "To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began."

Now that was really confusing to him, and the others. Fluttershy whimpered after Discord disappeared. "C-can we go home now?" He shook his head. "No, not until after Discord is gone." Twilight gazed out the window. "What do you reckon he meant? Twists and turns and endin' back where we started?"AJ pondered. Twilight thought for a time. Twists and turns... twists and turns..." Her eyes suddenly brightened.

"Twists and turns! That's it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace Labyrinth!" Malibu glanced out at that maze which looked quite intimidating. But if he had to face the maze to save the world, he would do it. Celestia stepped up, bowing to them. "Good luck, my little ponies. The fate of Equestria is in your hooves."

Twilight smiled, nodding. "Thanks, Princess. We won't let you down!" The 6 of them ran out but Celestia halted Malibu. "Wait. You have to be careful with Discord, my son. He's clever and manipulative. I don't want to lose you around him." She said in a soft voice. Malibu saw how scared his mom was, and hugged her again.

"I will, momma. Discord won't stand a chance against us!" He claimed confidently. Celestia gave a small smile then let him go. Malibu ran to catch up with his friends at the maze. They were mostly standing at the entrance, looking frightened at the sight of it. "W-we have to go in there?" Fluttershy whimpered.

Malibu put a hoof on her shoulder. "It'll be alright," He assured. Rainbow Dash stepped forward, flapping her wings. "And dopey Discord forgot about these babies!" She flew into the air. "I'll just do a quick fly over and we'll have the Elements in no time!"

Right as she said those words however, there was a flash and Malibu saw her wings vanish. She yelped when falling back down to earth. And he jumped when his own wings and horn vanished too, leaving him just as a regular pony. He gave a little cry of shock from it, feeling his forehead. "Your horn, my horn! Aah!" Both Rarity and Twilight shrieked.

A big flash of light showed in front of them; revealing Discord in all his evil glory, laughing menacingly. Without his horn now Malibu felt very vulnerable around this guy, but tried to be brave. After that he wound up having a goofy look on his face. "Oh, you should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!" He chortled more.

Twilight seemed to have enough of him. "Give us our wings and horns back!" Malibu nodded, swishing his tail. "It leaves ponies like me and Twilight vulnerable!" Discord shook his head. "Uh uh. You'll get them back in good time. I simply took them to ensure there is no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game: no flying, and no magic," He said in a cocky tone, tracing his lion paw finger down Twilight's cheek.

Rainbow was confused. "The first rule?" He appeared above her now. "The second rule is that everypony has to play or the game is over. And I win..." he put his mismatched hands together in a menacing fashion. "Good luck, everypony!" Laughing again, he was gone.

Malibu trembled all over. He felt naked without his wings and horn, staring at the maze with less confidence than before. Twilight however looked unfazed. "Never fear, friends. We have each other!"

Rainbow gave Malibu a reassuring gaze. "Yeah. Like Twilight said, there's nothing we can't overcome if we all stick together!" The mulberry pony stepped forward. "Alright everypony. Let's do this!" Malibu gulped but stepped forward too. "Together!" He and the rest shouted in bravery.

A rumbling sound came, maze walls suddenly shooting up around all 7 of them. Malibu screamed in horror, seeing his friends disappearing. He tried to get to Rainbow but a maze wall blocked him, sending him falling down. He groaned, rubbing his head, now seeing he was by himself, hearing his panicked friend's voices.

"Stay calm, guys! Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can, and we'll regroup there!" Malibu heard Twilight.

Dash's voice hit his ears. "Moving out!"

Rarity next. "See you in the center."

Applejack whooped then too.

"See you guys there!" Pinkie promised, and they all trotted away. Malibu, while moving on his own heard Flutter's terrified whimpers, feeling sorry for her but there was nothing he could do, wanting to find the center of the maze as fast as possible.

He panted heavily after about 20 minutes into the maze, hitting nothing but dead ends thus far. Malibu grunted in frustration when accidentally bumping into another dead end, getting tired of this game from Discord and wanted to get out.

"So quiet in here too..." Malibu mumbled to himself, a small pang of loneliness inside him, wishing to be with his friends again. When turning another corner, voices echoed from afar. It sounded like Rainbow Dash.

"Get up there and put 'em up! Come on! Let's go!"

Huh? Dash? And... Discord! Oh no! Malibu thought, eyes wide in fear for his marefriend, running towards the sound of their voices. A bush moved aside for him. He gasped aloud when seeing Discord right in front of Rainbow. She looked ready to fight but Discord seemed all too calm.

"Listen closely, this is important. A weighty choice is yours to make: the right selection or a big mistake. If a wrong choice you choose to pursue, the foundations of home will crumble without you."

Malibu wondered what the fiend meant when Discord snapped his eagle talons, a rainbow lightning cloud spinning in front of Dash. It seemed to catch her gaze into a trance of some sort. "C-Cloudsdale... crumble... without me? No!" He couldn't see what she was seeing but it was an obvious spell. Growling, Malibu charged out. Dash didn't hear him but Discord did.

"How nice, a guest. You must've heard our voices. But I have to deal with this one first." Malibu wouldn't hear it, eyes glowing red. "Keep your dirty hands off of my special somepony!" He roared, rearing into the air. Discord mostly used his magic to make him fly into the maze wall behind him, stunning Malibu.

Discord grinned maliciously at Rainbow Dash whose eyes were still glowing with the hypnosis. He made a box appear. "That box contains your wings. You can take them and leave the game, as well as your precious close friend, or you can carry on aimlessly wandering this maze. Your choice." He teased, causing Rainbow's bright colors to dull and turn gray. She shook her head, snapping out of it, right as Malibu woke up.

He saw Discord was gone but to his surprise Rainbow somehow got her wings back. She glanced over to him. "What... did Discord tell you?" Malibu asked in a dizzy voice. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Nothin' important. No time to talk to you right now, or hang out in this boring maze. I have to save Cloudsdale."

The former gargoyle's eyes widened a bit. The real Dash would never say that. He then noticed how gray she was. "Dash, you can't abandon your friends! The whole world needs you, not just Cloudsdale!" Rainbow glowered hard. "I have no loyalty to anypony else other than Cloudsdale! Not even you!" With that, she raised her wings and took off into the sky, leaving Malibu behind.

"R-Rainbow, no! Don't leave us!" Malibu croaked, lifting a hoof up to her. He wanted to fly after her but without his wings he couldn't. She seemed to have lost her loyalty to her friends and to his love altogether. He just sat there for a while, tears starting to form. Discord appeared before him again, seeing that the alicorn was in tears. "What's this? Tears I see? Would seem that your heart had been broken."

Malibu bared his teeth, tears down his cheeks. "Stay away!" He shouted, backing away. But Discord had a face of sincerity. "It hurt for me to see you get your heart shattered by that disloyal mare. I can make it all go away, you know." Malibu at first glanced up in curiosity but instantly changed after that.

"You had something to do with Dash not liking me anymore. I won't let you touch me!"

Discord smiled again, but not meanly. "I have something that won't hurt you, but help forget your broken heart. All you have to do is watch this pretty gem." He made a glowing red jewel appear before him. Malibu gasped at the sight, closing his eyes, looking away. He won't give in!

"Watch the pretty jewel... your memories will soon be removed of broken feelings... make you feel empty... devoid of love forever..." purred Discord in his head. Malibu trembled, moaning and shaking his head no. "Stop... please..." He whimpered, feeling his eyes threatening to open. Discord's lion paw traced along his forehead. "Yes, little one. Just open your eyes. And I know you're not a pony... and you're from another world..." Discord's alluring voice said tauntingly. Just hearing the final words made Malibu open his eyes, the red gem catching his eyes.

He stared, unable to look away, the gem flashing. Discord grinned triumphantly. He had the Element of Love in his grasp! "H-How d-do you know I'm... not a... a..." Malibu mumbled, feeling dizzy, his memories fading...

"Oh, from that day your 'mother' showed you my statue. I felt something off about you," Discord explained, snapping his fingers to make a vision to have Malibu forget to love others.

...

Malibu blinked and opened his eyes, finding himself back in Canterlot Castle. He wondered how he got back here. But looking around he still didn't have his wings or horns.

Screams and wails hit his ears, and he decided to look outside to see what was happening. The teal alicorn gasped in terror, eyes filled with despair. All of Equestria was covered in chaos. Discord had taken over.

"And what are you doing here?" He heard his mom's voice. A smile on his face Malibu turned to see here but... she too had lost her horn and wings, sitting on her throne. Celestia eyed him coldly.

Malibu couldn't believe what was happening right now, running over to hug her but Celestia glared at him to not hug her, causing Malibu to halt in his tracks. "What's wrong, mom? What happened?" Celestia continued to look mad. "You and your friends failed. Discord now rules everypony. And I no longer see you as my son!"

That broke through Malibu's heart even more since Dash's rejection, eyes flooded more with tears, backing away. "No, this... this isn't real. I'm not in the castle! My mom wouldn't say it!" He sobbed. Celestia glared harder, her eyes suddenly glowing white. "Agh! I was certain it would work!"

...

The false vision broke, Malibu finding himself back in the maze, groaning in pain, Discord looking frustrated. He grabbed Malibu by his neck holding him up. Malibu squirmed in Discord's hold. "Let me go! Let me go! I won't let you manipulate me!" Malibu roared, kicking out.

Discord bared his teeth. He thought that this one would be weak. But his element seemed too strong for him to break. "Phft. You weren't worth my time anyway, gargoyle." The draconequus scoffed, tossing Malibu aside who winced from the throw. The clone stared at Discord in cold hatred.

"Y-you'll pay for hurting Dash!" Malibu threatened. Discord just grinned. "I'd like to see you try!" He snapped his fingers and disappeared. Malibu shouted out loud, right as a maze wall collapsed down.

Turning about, tears still on his cheeks, Malibu saw Twilight and his other friends there together, possibly having met one another along the way.

Malibu ran over to his 'sister', smiling sadly. "Twilight!" She was surprised to see him now. "Malibu? What happened? Are you ok?" He shook his head. "Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Malibu then nodded. Twilight saw the look in his eyes, and eventually knew that he saw her flying away too.

The maze around them rumbled and collapsed to dirt, open space now all around. Malibu stood protectively near his friends, not noticing that the other 5 have changed gray yet, Discord showing through the clouds of dirt.

"Well, well, well. Somepony broke the "no wings; no magic" rule." Discord proclaimed in a triumphant tone, snapping his fingers again. Malibu felt his horn and wings come back, feeling surprised but didn't trust Discord completely with this. Discord stood there in victory. "Game's over, my little ponies. You didn't find your precious Elements."

He pulled out a umbrella but opened it the wrong way. "Looks like we might be in for a big old storm of chaos!" That made him laugh maniacally, Malibu gazing on in despair and defeat, thunder crashing in the sky. It seemed that they had lost this fight, wondering how much more it would take to stop him for good and to find the Elements.

.....

This shall continue in another part later on, where we will see if Malibu and his friends will finally defeat Discord.